From Italy with Love
by RedAngel666
Summary: What happens when your father is a werewolf, and your mother a half-vampire, half-human?
1. Chapter 1

Dear Diary,

I don't know why I am starting a diary, because I never forget things, but I'm doing it. Maybe it would be smart if I document my life so that if I ever got killed for not being as pretty as my whole family is, someone would know it wasn't my fault for being ugly. Or maybe I will get amnesia for being a total unique creature. I'm sure it will do some good sometime.

So, it's me, Dawn Black! Named after the rising sun. My Quileute name is Hupaki Glake, (which means 'Bat' in Quileute; I think my parents must have had fun with all the vampire myths around) but you probably understand why I prefer my 'human-proof' name.

My parents are Renesmee Cullen-Black, a half vampire, half human and the wife of Jacob Black. He's a werewolf. So yes, that means that I'm all mixed up.

I'm a one-of-a-kind being, which has its pros and cons. I can, as half werewolf, shift in any animal I want. I heal and grow in an unhuman speed. As quarter human, I can eat normal food. I can have children, however I don't think I will ever want them. As quarter vampire I'm very strong, can run very fast, glow in the sunlight and feed on blood. Of course, that will be animal blood, but as well as the good vampire side, I have the bad too. I can't be near bloody human scenes. I've never tasted human blood in my life, but it smells like heaven.

Ever since I was born, my family has been afraid. The Volturi, a sort of royal vampire clan in Italy, doesn't know I exist. They don't like experimental creatures like me. So as soon as they will know I was born, we will be summoned. And that could be any day, whether it was tomorrow or in a year.

Yesterday, a spy from the Volturi came to check our area. I haven't seen him, but he has seen me. I was hunting with Grandpa Edward and Dad. I was just taking off my shoes (silver stiletto's, thanks to Alice) to change, and suddenly Edward stopped running and closed his eyes to listen. He said we needed to go home immediately and so we left the woods. Home; he said he'd listened to the mind of a Volturi spy and heard that he'd seen me. The Cullens had some problems with them before, so this was definitely bad news.

But I have to stop writing now, because Mom's calling. I heard some noises downstairs, so I think there might be some news about our Volturi accident…

Love, Dawn


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

When I came down the stairs, everyone was sitting around the dinertable. I walked over to my father to sit on his lap, a thing I only do when I'm nervous.

"What's wrong?" I asked

"We got a letter from Aro, the Volturi clan leader. We need to go to Italy. If we don't, they will come here. And we really don't want them to do that." Carlisle said

'Why didn't Alice see the spy coming?' I questioned in a small voice.

"They have a new shield, probably the best to protect themselves from us. A vampire named Sophie. Her shield is like what the werewolves have, I can't see her and the Volturi anymore. The last thing I saw from them was when Sophie was asked to join them," Alice said.

"Why don't we want them to come here?"

"Because they're evil," Emmett said in a dark voice. Though he was grinning, as always, I could see he was just as tensed as all of us.

I looked at Carlisle again. "Then why are we not leaving? We don't want our lovely little village murdered by big old scary Vampires. And I've never been out of the US; I'd like to see Europe!" I was already daydreaming how lovely the Italian food would be, or the Scandinavian woods to hunt and change.

"We are_ not_ going!" Of course, Dad was here to ruin my dreams. "We are not going to get ourselfs killed. And Dawn, it wouldn't be a nice trip to Europe; this is serious, dangerous stuff!"

"Would you want your wolves to be murdered? You know you just can't fight the Volturi," Jasper said in his all knowing voice.

"And what about La Push, Jake? Even if you can defend your pack, you can't defend the people in town. We need to go, to protect our loved ones." Bella knew best how to make Dad do things.

"Where would we be without our little guardian puppies?" Rosalie said. They still liked to tease eachother.

"Alright, but I need to talk to Sam. And to Dawn. Honey, will you come with me?" Dad said. It was more a demand than a question. _Hmmm, I thought he would stick more to his plan. And why did he want to talk to me?_ I followed him through the door, and we walked into the forest. Dad pulled out his t-shirt, and waited for me to do the same. I hated it when he did that.

"Come on, what are you waiting for! I won't watch, if that's the point," he said. "Change into wolf form, that will make it easier for Sam, you know how he is." Of course, that was not the only reason why he wanted me to change into a wolf. If I changed into antoher animal, which I usually did, the wolves of my fathers pack couldn't read my mind.

"I don't want you to hear my thoughts. Especially not when we have something serious to discuss," I said.

Dad sighed. I was very much like him; he didn't like wolf thing as much as I did. To change always felt great, but to change into a wolf was simply the best. But then you had to 'share your head', what I absolutely hated. That's why I usually chose another form.

"Alright, but then you have to promise me that you don't walk away if you get angry," he said. The thing he wanted to discuss had to be something bad...

"I promise. I'm not a baby anymore Dad, I'm fourteen." I didn't really meant it, but I had to promise. Of course I could always fly away, or swim away, if I could make it to the river.

"Good. I wanted to talk to you about Italy. If we go there, we don't have enough protection. We're only with five, and I don't want to take such a risk in a city full of well-trained vampires." Uh-oh, I really didn't see that one coming...

"I will not join your pack! I don't want you to read my mind. I don't want Quil and Embry to read my mind. I don't want to read your mind!" I was shaking all over, and I knew I needed to calm down. If I changed out of angriness, I would become a wolf.

"Dawn, calm down!" _Huh, like I wasn't trying to do that!_ "It's for your own safety, and for your family's safety. I can teach you how to fight if you like, or you can just run patrols. You only have to run one patrol a day." Of course, like a true Alpha, he had already planned patrol schemes.

"One a day? Are you crazy? Fuck your patrols, I won't do it!"

'Don't speak like that to me! I'm your father! You are my daughter and I want you to join the pack! Now behave, and change. We need to talk to Sam." He had talked to me in his Alpha voice, and though I wasn't a member of the pack yet, I had to obey him. He pulled off his shoes, and I hid behind a tree to pull off the expensive jeans and top I got from Alice. I heard Dad change, and I did the same. When I was in my giant off-white wolf body, I walked over to stand next to Dad.

_Good, now behave in front of Sam. _

_Sure, any other things you are going to prohibit me and force me to do?_

_Like I said, behave! _He wanted it to sound solemn, but I could hear himself regretting he had been so hard for me. _I apologize dear, but you still have to do it._

_I will do it, but then I want to run the patrols with Leah._

_Of course. _

We waited for Sam to come over to the Cullen territory. He hadn't brought any company, Sam trusted Jacob after so many years.

_Good evening! _I couldn't hear Sam's thoughts directly, but I could read them out of Dad's mind.

_Good evening Sam. I hope you and your pack are doing fine?_

_Sure, but you can quit the smalltalk. I can see that you're worried about something._

_Thanks, Sam. Yes, we are in trouble. The Volturi had summoned us. We need to leave, there's nothing to do about it. _

_So you want me to and my pack to defend La Push and the Cullen territory?_

_Yes, I hope that's fine with you. The land is yours as long as we are in Italy._

_How long will you be in Italy?_

_We don't know. It can be for a few days, a few months, even a few years is possible._

_Will the other members of the pack go to Italy?_

_Yes. They will stay here for a few more days to get everything ready and then they will come to Italy too. Dawn will also be in the pack, since we need all the protection we can get._

_Good. I wish you good luck on your trip._

_Thank you. _

Sam walked away. He seemed to be a little soft about all this, maybe he didn't see how serious it was. I changed and ran to the house. Dad needed to talk to Seth, Leah, Quil and Embry. And I needed to go to bed, the sooner the better. We would leave the next day.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Esme woke me up the next morning. She brought me breakfast, and the lovely smell of fresh-baken pancakes filled the room.

"How was your night?" she asked.

"A little short. Dad gave me a lot to think about last night." I didn't tell her about the talk I'd had with my mother. She obviously had heard everything.

"It's eleven o'clock a.m. now. We will leave at two." Our hours sleeping and awake were a little diffrent from the human's. The vampires always had to be out of the sunlight, so most of the time that I was awake was after noon. But today I had to wake up early.

After Esme had left my room I searched for some clothes. I was as fashionable as my father; jeans ans t-shirts were my favorites. But before I could get my old black t-shirt from my shelf, Alice knocked on my door.

"Did you seriously think you could wear _that_ today? You're a guest in the fashion paradise! If you want to make friends with the Italians, you have to look decent." She handed me a purple silk dress and a black jacket. Then she ran in vampire speed to her room and gave me a pair of black, high-heeled pumps.

"It's good we have the same size. These are perfect." I wanted to give everything back and pull on my sneakers, but I knew, with Alice you just can't. I sighed and put the clothes on. Whatever, clothes are clothes. Only the shoes would be a problem.

I ate my breakfast and stuffed my toothbrush and some books in my backpack. Alice would buy me some clothes if I needed more. Then I walked down the stairs. It was almost two and we were leaving. Emmett took my backpack and I stepped in Carlisles car. Jasper came to sit next to me.

"Don't worry so much, Dawn. Everything will be alright." A wave of calm covered me.

"No Jazz, you don't know. Maybe they will kill us all!" Despite the calmness Jasper was flooding my way, tear ran down my cheek.

"I talked about it with Eleazar. They won't kill us; too many other vampires will know the Volturi did it. They don't want to take risks."

"What do you think they are going to do?" Carlisle asked. He started the car, and we were driving. We were almost at the end of the Cullen's driveway.

"I don't know. They could try to break our bonds so we must join their clan, but that is almost impossible with Bella. Or we have to be forced to do so. We will see, I don't think it will be very bad, we have very good protection."

We arrived at the airport in Seattle on time. We flew to New York, and from New York to Rome. If we'd had the time, I would have loved to see Rome. But unfortunately we didn't. We hired some cars, and drove over to Volterra. The Italian landscape was beautiful. I wanted to see more of it, but we were already there, the massive stone building using up most of my vision.

"Someone will be waiting for us on the Palazzo dei Priore. I got a vision from Aro, and he asks us to be there as soon as we arrive in Volterra," Alice said.

Carlisle parked the car while Esmee was telling the others about Alice's vision. We hurried through the old streets of Volterra, until we arrived at the Palazzo dei Priore. A big vampire was standing in the middle of it. Unther the big cape I could see his face. His name was Felix; my mother had showed me all the Volturi guards she could remember last night.

"Welcome in Volterra, please follow me," Felix said in a cold voice. It felt as though a shiver ran down my spine from his icy words. Obviously he was not happy to do the dirty job of guiding us to the Volturi clan leaders. When he spotted me, he couldn't get his eyes of me.

We went through some narrow streets, through a pothole and into the ground. Bella was holding Edward's hand, and she looked very concentrated. She was hefting her shield, so Edward could read her mind. Maybe she remembered this.

We went through several doors, until we finally arrived in some kind of reception room. Felix told us to wait here.

"Jacob, are you sure you want to come with us? You can still go back while you can. We don't know how Aro will react on a werewolf in his place," Carlisle said.

"I'm here to protect my daughter, my wife, and the vampires. I will not leave them in danger, I'm no coward," Dad said in a sure voice, though his face looked worried.

'Are you sure about that?' Emmett said. "'Cause there are no trees to pee on when you get too nervous, dog!" I heard a growl spring up from the back of Dad's throat. Emmett and Rosalie were still laughing when a big wooden door opened. A vampire, Renata as I recognised her, asked us to come in.

We stepped into a beautiful place, enlightened by daylight. In the corners were standing a few vampires, who walked away when we came in. In the middle were three thrones, and in the middle one was Aro sitting. On the others Caius and Marcus were sitting. Aro standed up and walked to Carlisle.

"Welcome, dear friend Carlisle. However I hope you are still my friend!" Aro said in a voice that was all too cheerful for me.

"Hello, Aro. Yes, I really hope that too. As you know we would never break the rules," Carlisle said.

"Then may I ask who the newcomer is? She's no vampire, and no human. But I can smell a little of them both," Aro asked. He must have been very curious of what I was, because he still was polite to Carlisle.

"This is Dawn. She is Jacob's and Renesmee's daughter. She is half werewolf, quarter vampire, and quarter human."

"Hmmm, interesting. Could I meet her?" This was what we wanted. Soon, Aro would hear all my thoughts I had ever had; he would know me better then anyone in the world. I was terrified, but I knew I had to do it. Then there might be a chance they would let us go.

"Yes. Dawn, please meet my friend Aro," Carlisle said. I slowly took the steps to the two vampires in front of me.

"Good evening, Aro. My name is Dawn Hupaki Glake Black," I said in a strong voice. I was proud of myself that my voice didn't break.

Aro laughed. "Bat! Hilarious as always, those Cullens!" I wondered where he had learned the Quileute language. "Give me your hand, and tell me something about yourself."

I gave him my hand and Aro closed his eyes. He was amused. "Interesting. I have never seen any creature like you in my whole life. But that was the same with your mother. Always something new when you meet the Cullens." Aro said. I felt relieve, when he didn't sound angry.

"Is it true, Aro?" Caius said.

"Oh, brother, you have no idea! Dawn is a wonderful, very gifted creature. It is true, my brother. Dawn, may Caius ask you some questions?"

"Of course, Aro." Caius standed up and came to stand in front of me. I was more afraid of him then from Aro, who I actually kind of liked. I heard Edward growl a little when I thought about that.

"Our spy said that he saw you changing into a mountainlion. Is that true?" Caius asked. He knew it was true, Aro had obviously read it out of the spy's memory. Maybe he wanted to check if I was telling the truth.

"Yes, that is true. I like to change into panthers or mountainlions when I go hunting," I answered.

"So you can change into more than one animal? Can you shift into anything you want?" Caius questioned.

"I can shift into any animal I want. I can change into a bird though flying is hard. If I change into a wolf, I can hear the wolf pack's thoughts." I didn't tell him I was actually going to join the pack.

"Can you change into a human, or a vampire?" Caius asked.

"No. Just animals." I had once tried to do so, but it just didn't work. Humans and vampires were too complicated.

Aro looked Caius in the eye. "You see, brother, I don't think she will harm us. She is very well raised, and she will not betray us. I'm defenitely sure about that. But I don't like it that the Cullens keep experimenting with their race. Marcus, my brother, come here. We need to talk."

Marcus was standing next to Caius before I could blink. Vampire speed, I was jealous on it. Both Caius and Marcus took Aro's hand. I walked back to my family, and standed next to Edward.

_Edward, are they going to kill us?_ Edward shook his head. But then he growled a little, and Bella squeezed his hand. Something not very nice, probably.

Aro turned to us. "We made a decision. We want to observe Dawn, to see how she does things. She must join the Volturi. We will arrange a house for the rest of the family, and Dawn will have a bodyguard," Aro said in a casual voice, as if he was asking for something simple. I didn't like the decision, but I could live with it. I wouldn't have to join the pack, and I would have a bodyguard.

"How long will she stay?" Edward asked.

"As long as we need to observe her." Well, I hoped it would not be for too long. "I will arrange a sleeping place for her, and any other things she need."

"Can we see her from time to time?" Mom asked. I hadn't thought about that yet. Maybe I wouldn't see my family in weeks!

"Of course, from time to time. You may join us too, if you like. Anyone interested?" Aro asked. Nobody wanted to join the Volturi. If they would say yes, they would be here for the rest of their lives. I understanded it, but I didn't like it. I would miss them.

"Then we're done. You can leave, but wait in the reception room until we have a house for you. Dawn, you can stay." That was the last time I would see my family for days, weeks, maybe even years.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Aro had brought me to a beautiful room in one of the towers of the Volturi headquarters. I had a lovely view over Volterra. The sun was just setting, a rainbow splash of reds and purples streaking across the sky. I was just looking out my window, down to the street full of people, when Aro came in.

"Your family's house is arranged. Your lovely great-aunt Rosalie gave me this; I suppose it's your personal belongings. How do you like your new room? Is the bed comfortable enough?"

"It's wonderful, Aro. The bed is perfect. I love the view." I took my backpack from Aro and laid it on my new bed.

"There's paper on the desk if you want to write a letter. The wardrobe is empty, but I called Alice, and she will bring you some pyjamas. By day you will be wearing this." Aro handed me something made of a heavy, black fabric. It was a long dress, with long sleeves and a dark-gray cape.

"And now I want you to meet your personal bodyguard." A young vampire came into my room. I recognized him as Alec. I suppose he was around my age when he was turned, maybe a little older. I knew a lot about him; my parents had told me fairytales about 'the witch twins' when I was younger. I knew I had to be afraid of him, but I wasn't. He was smiling at me now, and I smiled back.

"Hello, my name is Alec. Welcome to the Volturi family," he said.

"Hi, my name is Dawn Black, nice to meet you."

Aro nodded happily, clapping his hands together once. "Then I will leave you two alone now, so you can get to know eachother a little bit. We will have dinner in an hour," Aro said. He just sounded like my father when he talked about dinner time.

"I heard some gossip about you." _Volturi vampires gossip?_ "Is it true, about the shapeshifting?" Alec asked, a curious look sweeping over his face as though he hand to be serious around Aro, but could be anything around others.

"I don't know what they said. But it is true that I can change into any animal form I want." I opened my backpack and laid the books on my desk. I laid my toothbrush on the big white handbasin.

"Wow, that must be awesome," Alec said. Then he walked to my bed and sat on it. I sat next to him.

"Yes, it is. I hope I will get the time to change some here in Italy. It's so beautiful."

"I will take care of that. But first tell me something about yourself," Alec said.

"What do you want to know?" I asked.

He thought for a moment. "How old are you?" _Very, very interesting question, boy…_

"I'm seventeen, but I stopped growing when I was fifteen. How old are you?"

"I'm one-hundred and forty years old," he answered. "Caius turned me and my sister when we were sixteen."

"Do you like being in the Volturi guard?" I asked.

A small smile spread across his face. "I've been in the guard my whole vampire life now. I don't know how it is to live a normal vampire life, but I do like it here." Then he turned his head and looked me in the eye. I had seen more red-eyed vampires before, so I wasn't afraid of the dark-red of his irises. "Do _you_ like it here?"

"I thought everything would be worse. But everybody seems to be really nice to me, and I know they will take good care of me. At first Aro scared me, but now he kind of acts like my father." I laughed a little, and Alec did too.

"Yeah, I know. He does for all of us, and for some he truly is. He turned many of the guards himself. But I like the way he acts, he gives us all a warm feeling. That way we won't leave the guard, however the bonds are manipulated a little." Mom had told me about Chelsea, the guard who could break and make bonds. "Would you like two meet the rest of the Volturi guard? I don't think everyone's home, but I think our newcomer Sophie should be here."

"I'd love to meet her. But I think I first need to put on my new clothes." I looked at the beautiful black dress and cape. I liked the gothic look of it, and it was exactly my size. I wondered how they knew _that_…

"Of course, ma'am. I will wait outside your room," Alec said. I loved the way he said 'ma'am' with his light Italian accent as if _I _were someone he was to respect… Ha, imagine me being respected by the Volturi. He stepped out of my room and closed the door behind him. I pulled off the silk dress and black jacket. The shoes would fit fine with the black velours dress. It was a knee-length dress, and it was cut low so you could see a good part of my cleavage. The dark grey cape had a black ribbon on the hem, and a bow on the front kept it in its place.

I looked in the mirror on the inside of my wardrobe. I looked beautiful. The glossy black of my long, straight hair looked lovely with the rest of my outfit. For the first time in my life I looked as stunning as a vampire…

I walked out of my room. "How does my new Volturi outfit look?" I asked Alec, spinning slowly so he could get a full view.

"You look like you're going to fit in very well with us vampires!" he said gleefully. _Well, that was a compliment, right? _We walked through some big, heavy doors, until we were in the big hall with the thrones. Only Marcus was sitting on his throne now. He was sitting as still as only a vampire could do. Alec walked to him. I was a little afraid to wake Marcus from his thinking or whatever he was doing, but I knew nothing could happen to me when I had my bodyguard.

"Marcus, I want Dawn to meet our family. Where can I find Sophie?" Alec asked, his fingers laced together, placed under his chin as his elbows rested in the air.

Marcus body didn't move. Only his lips formed a perfectly pronounced answer. "Sophie is training her fighting skills with Felix. They are in the theatre hall. You can take her with you, she had enough practise for today. Bring her here, Heidi will be coming soon."

I didn't know what that meant, 'Heidi will be coming soon'. I followed Alec to another heavy wooden door, some corridors and a stainded glass door. We were in a big hall, which I supposed was the theatre hall. Felix and a tiny brown-haired vampire were fighting. Their movement was so fast I could hardly see it.

"Sophie, your new sister is here to meet you." I was a sister now. The whole Volturi guard was my new family. I was raised to think of the Volturi as bad vampires, but now I seemed to like them more and more. They were not bad at all to me. But of course I hadn't seen them actually do what they do: punishing criminal vampires. When I thought of my real family I couldn't see them as criminals. But to the Volturi they were. _In the time I had to spend here I was going to find out why they were, _I told myself.

The fight suddenly stopped and in the same moment the tiny brunette was standing in front of me. "Welcome in our home, Dawn. My name is Sophie." I reminded myself just in time that vampires didn't shake hands, and said "Nice to meet you, Sophie."

Sophie looked concentrated at my body and clothes. _A real Italian, _I thought. Then a little smile came over her lips. "Black and grey looks very good on you. But I really miss that royal accent. And when you are a Volturi, you have to look royal. Follow me; I have something for you to wear with this."

Alec and I followed her to her room. The building was getting more familiar and I recognised some places. Her room was close to mine; only one level lower. It was quite similar with my room, the same desk, same bed (which she didn't sleep in, of course) and same wardrobe. When she opened the wardrobe I saw it was filled with black and grey dresses. They were lovely, and I hoped I could borrow some of them one day.

Sophie took a jewelry box from one of the shelves. She gave it to me. "Wear this, it's yours now. I got it from Aro when I joined the guard, but it will fit you much better." I opened the beautifully decorated box. There was a beautiful neclace in it. An onyx stone in a heart shape was hanging on a thin silver chain. At that moment, I was reminded of Alice and a smile formed on my lips.

"It's so beautiful, Sophie. Thank you!" From that moment I knew Sophie and I would become close sisters. I wanted to stay a little longer to stare at the necklace, but Alec tapped my shoulder.

"Sisters, Heidi can come in any time. We need to go down to the visiting hall."

While I was discovering the palace of the Volturi, I had completely forgotten I was strarving. We walked to the dining hall. All the other guards were already there. I wondered how they had made food for me, since vampires usually don't cook. Maybe they hired one?

"So, I think this will be your first time?" Alec said.

"My first time of what?" I asked.

"Drinking human's blood, of course. Your family doesn't, so I suppose you don't either." Oh, no…

"I have to drink human's blood? Killing someone? I can't do that!" I said. The next moment the biggest door in the hall opened. A beautiful vampire, which I suppose was Heidi, came in. A big group of humans followed her. So this was what 'Heidi will be coming' meant; she was bringing in the food… I saw Aro smiling at a little girl, and the next moment he was on her. She yelled, but in a few seconds she was dead. As soon as Aro had bitten, the other vampires started getting their humans. It was a horrible sight. Alec took two little girls, and broke both their necks. One moment they were shouting and yelling, and the next moment they were dead. He walked to me, and handed me one of the girls.

"Come on, try it. We can't get you animals!" I knew he was having a very hard time not to bite the corpse in is arms. I took the other girl. I know, I should have protested, but I just couldn't. There was too much blood around me. It smelled delicious. I had never been around humans a lot in my life; I had never been to school. Only when I went shopping or visiting Billy I saw humans. I had no respect for them, for me they were just a little more educated then the animals I ate. I looked down at the girl in my arms. Did it make any difference, she was already dead right?

So I bent down and bit.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The blood was more delicious then I could ever have imagined. The girl ran dry before I was satisfied. Everything went so fast, and before I knew I bit down another throat. When I finished my third body, I wasn't hungry, or thirsty anymore. I looked up to see if the others were done. Everyone was staring at me with big eyes. I realized I had acted like a beast, growling and snarling. My beautiful dress was ruined; there was blood everywere around me. I looked at Alec, still clean and tidy, for an explanation why everyone was staring.

"I can see you enjoyed your meal," he said.

"Quite." I was very embarrased. But then I heard some noise behind me and I turned around. Sophie had finished her last body, pushing it away. Her dress was bloody all over too. I hadn't realized she was a newborn, only a few months old. She looked at me and smiled. I smiled back. I knew we were going to be great friends.

"Don't worry, I think we have the same size," Sophie said. "Tomorrow we will get you some more clothes. Take this one, it will look nice on you." She gave me one of her dresses. It was black, and strapless. The hem was beaded with purple glass beads. It looked wonderful, but I was glad my cape was still intact.

"Where do we get clothes? I suppose we're not going to shop," I asked. Sophie was busy trying to wash the blood off our clothes. She was wearing a new outfit too; grey knit top and a black velours skirt. Her brown curly hair bounced on her hat.

"Did you know Marcus is a huge fashionista? He has the whole basement stocked with the most beautiful stuff you can ever imagine. And Aro loves jewels. You should see his collection. And we may all take what we want! Isn't that great? A mall in your own home, and you don't even have to pay!" I could see she was really excited. I was too; I couldn't wait to go shopping tomorrow. My love for fashion was growing.

"That's just awesome. But I really need to go to sleep now, I've been awake since eleven," I said.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I totally forgot that you sleep! Let me bring you to your room, I don't think Alec remembers how to tuck someone in," Sophie said. We walked to our room, and I tried very hard to remember how I came there, so I could find her tomorrow.

We came in my room, and I pulled on my pajamas. While I brushed my teeth, Sophie told me about her gift.

"I was brought in here as food for the guards. Heidi had leaded our schoolclass to the headquarters. I was walking just behind her, so I was the first to come in the hall. Aro spotted me, and took my hand. He was very surprised, because in every thought I had ever had, he couldn't find me. Like when you film something, and you don't see the cameraman. He knew I had to be something special when I was turned, and so he did. When the burning was over, Aro tried to find out what I was. I have an invisibility shield, which means that I am mentally invisible. Aro made me a Volturi guard, and now I'm a full time shield for them," Sophie told me.

"Alice can't have visions from the Volturi anymore. How can I let them know I'm fine?" I asked Sophie.

"You could write a letter. I did that too for my parents. When I was turned, I had to let my family know I wouldn't come back. I wrote a letter on the hospital's name. The story was that I died from a car accident, and that my body was too fractured to look at. Then I arranged a funeral," Sophie said in a sad voice.

"Do you miss your parents?" I asked. Sophie seemed surprised for me to ask.

"Yes, I miss them every day. But I'm happy here, with my new family. I wish I could see them sometimes." She sighed, and sat on my bed. Then she tapped the space next to her. "Honey, you have to go to sleep now. We will practice fighting tomorrow together, and you need your energy."

"I thought I would stay here temporary. Didn't know I will have to learn how to fight," I said. But as soon as she reminded me of the warm, soft bed, I was too tired to complain about it. I went in my bed, and Sophie gave me a short hug. "Goodnight, Dawn. I'm glad I finally have a friend."

"Goodnight. Tell me tomorrow what I missed while I was asleep!"

I was sleeping before she was out of my room.

Alec woke me up the next morning. I hadn't expected him to come in my room while I slept, but I loved the way he woke me up.

"Dawn, there's food for you! Real food! You have to taste it, my sister made it. It's our mother's recipe, but we don't know if the taste is good." _Italians, through and through… _A real Italian would always stick to his mother's recipe for pasta. I'd never had it as breakfast, but I liked pasta.

"Wow, smells great!" I said. Alec had given me a plate of fresh pasta and a tomato sauce. His sister, Jane, was standing quietly on the outside of my room. I had hoped she would come in so I could thank her for the food, but unfortunately she didn't. I twisted a 'tagiatelle' around my fork and dipped it in the red sauce. It was very typical the sauce and pasta wasn't mixed.

"It tastes wonderful!" I said. "Is that ginger? And a little cinnamon?"

"Exactly. And do you taste the red pepper?" Alec asked.

"Yes, this is just lovely. Without a doubt the best pasta I ever had!" I said. I wasn't sure if it was; Carlisle had made wonderful pasta before. But it tasted real good, and I wanted Jane to like me.

"Thank you. I will tell Sophie you're awake now. She's been waiting for you all night," Alec said. He walked away, and took Jane's hand. Only a few seconds later Sophie was sitting on my bed.

"Hello sweetheart! How was your night?" she asked.

"Great, thanks. The bed is so soft, I really want one when I go back home," I said. When I said 'when I go back home', Sophie looked a little sad.

"I hope you stay a little longer. I really like you, and you're my first friend in here. We have the same problems; the blood and the fighting. But now I see you have another problem; your hair looks just awful," she said. Damn, hadn't checked that since Alec woke me up. Maybe that's why Jane looked at me so weird… "Wait here, I'm gonna get a brush and stuff and something for you to wear." And gone she was, with her vampire speed

Luckily, she was back whitin seconds. "Sit on your desk chair, and let me do your hair and makeup." While she did her thing, we talked about my life at home.

"So you've never been to school?" Sophie asked.

"No, my parents thought it was too dangerous. Mom did school only five times, and Dad seven times. But they said I wouldn't learn anything new, because I had read all their schoolbooks. And there could have been Volturi spies at schools," I said.

"I understand. If the Volturi had seen you before they knew what you are, they would kill you. I'm so glad they first let you tell your story. It's good to know what happens when someone like your mother and someone like your father get a baby. Not that I think it will ever happen again…"

"No, I don't think so… Shifters seem to have a natural aversion of vampires. We met a group of Werepanthers some time ago. I was hunting with my father when we met them. It was good the vampires weren't there, 'cause they would have been dead."

"Wait, there's more than only werewolfs? Did you say Were-panthers?" Sophie said.

"Sure, and even more! There's a whole shifter community. Most shifters call themselves like Were-, and then their animal of shifting. Werecat, Werefox, Weretiger…"

"Oh my God, that's totally awesome! Is there a large polulation?" Sophie was very interested.

"Quite, many of the Native Americans were Shifters. Most of them are harmless, only the big predators can be dangerous. Like the wolves. But they're not that stupid to attack."

"Please tell me more about your father's nature some other time. We first need to go shopping…"

Sophie had lead me to the basement.

"Are you sure we can enter this without permission? I mean, this must be Marcus' most dearly place."

"I'm sure he's okay with it. If we wear the clothes, he doesn't have to go downstairs all the time to look at them. Same with Aro."

The basement was one big mall. Rows and rows of dresses and skirts and capes were in it. Bags, shoes, scarves, I just couldn't believe my eyes. My fashion style had changed completely now; I would never wear jeans and t-shirts again. When Sophie and I had picked everyting I liked, we went back to my room to put it in my wardrobe.

"Alice will be proud of me," I said

"I know she will. Do you miss her a lot?"

"Yes, pretty much. I think I will write her a letter soon. And my mother too, and Rose, and Jasper…"

"Let me help you," Sophie said. Together we started writing.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Sophie and I finished the letter for my parents.

"How are we going to post it?" I asked

"With a pigeon!" she said. I didn't know there were still people who did that. Sophie showed me the posting tower, and she knotted the letter to the claw of one of the birds. She gave me the bird, and I threw it out of the window.

"How does she know where my parents are? I don't even know it!" I asked

"These are very special animals," was all she said.

When we went back to my room, one of the guards was waiting outside. He asked us to come with him to the theatre hall, for our fighting practice. I liked it to have the lessons with Sophie, because I still didn't like Demetri. When we arrived at the hall, Demetri and Alec were waiting for us.

"Welcome Dawn, Sophie," he said. "Today we are going to practice how to catch someone, and how to run away if you've been catched." _Sounds exciting… _"Alec is here to volunteer. Dawn, show me what you can and try to catch Alec." How was I ever going to do that in my human form? I couldn't change in front of them. I watched Alec, and he winked. _Well, that was actually kind of cute…_

I waited a few seconds, and then made a big jump to him. But, of course, at the time I was at the place Alec had been standing, he was already gone. Standing two steps away, he winked again.

"Try another technique; this will never work with a vampire," Demetri said.

"I just can't fight in my human form! I need to change, or I can never be as fast as you." I said.

"What if it's a surprise attack? Then you won't have the time to change," Demetri said, his voice all logic.

"I can change so fast you can hardly see it. I'll show you, wait a second," I said. I ran to the nearest toilet (what do vampires need a toilet for?) and pulled off my clothes. Then I changed into a dog. While running back to the theatre hall, I got many stares.

I came into the hall. "Dawn? Is that you?" Sophie asked. I nodded with my dog head. Then I waited untill I got Demetri's full attention, and changed into an owl. Dad had always been jealous on me for changing from animal to animal, and now I saw Demetri was too.

"Well, I need to say, you were right. The changing is faster than I thought. But how can an owl attack a vampire?" Demetri said. I hadn't thought about that yet, but I figured that if a werewolf could kill a vampire, why couln't a Wereowl? Werecreatures were much stronger and bigger than normal animals. To find out I flew to Alec, and knocked him on the ground. By the time he realized I attacked him, I had already shifted into a bear, and I holded him down with my paws. I couldn't reach his neck in this form, so, while still holding him down, I changed into a fox. I bit him very softly so I wouldn't hurt him, to let Demetri see I had won the fight.

Sophie clapped in her hands and Demetri smiled a little. "Very good, Dawn! Your fighting is absolutely fantastic. Now I want to see how you run away." I looked at Alec. He smiled at me, and prepared to catch me. He probably felt embarassed to be catched by a shapeshifter, but he didn't show it. I shifted into an owl again, and I flew to the top of the hall. Alec jumped up, but couldn't catch me. He ran to the wall, jumped against it, landed on the other wall, and jumped over again. He jumped from one side to the other until he was at almost my height. I flew down again, and he let himself fall on the ground. I knew I couldn't win with flying, because Alec was much faster with his jumping. Flying is very hard, I liked to be with four paws on the ground. I changed into a tiger, one of my favorite forms.

Alec standed still, waiting for the right moment to attack. He looked me in my eyes, and I knew he was trying to tell me something. But I didn't get the time to figure out what it was, because Alec started his attack. He ran and jumped on me and I knew I could't escape. His arms, who normally would break my bones in this grip, now hugged me. I grinned at him, but I wasn't sure if he could see it in this tiger form.

"Well done, Alec. Dawn, you have to practice your escaping skills. But you did very well for today. Maybe I can have a little talk with Aro, to give you a reward for this," Demetri said.

I beamed.

I had changed back and I was waitng for Alec to come to my room. When he came in, I smiled immediately.

"You did so well during the training!" Alec said.

"Yeah, but I know you've let me win the first game," I said

"No, that's not true! Well, maybe a little, but you still did so well. Demetri said the reward was arranged. You may take a shifting trip outside Volterra, with me as your bodyguard," Alec said.

"Really? That's awesome!" I had no words for it, I was so happy. Finally, after three days of not shifting, I could be myself.

"Yes. We could hunt animals if you like. I haven't fed on animals before, so I'm very curious," he said. That surprised me a little. Most vampires didn't like my family because they fed on animals.

"I can't wait. When can we leave?" I said.

"Uh, now, if you want to?" he said.

Alec had taken me to a beautiful piece of forest. We had driven for over two hours, but it was absolutely worth it.

"Wait a second, so I can change." I pointed to some bushes further away. Alec nodded, and I ran away to pull off my clothes. I changed into a cheeta, so I could keep up with running with Alec. Then I walked back at him.

"Shall we go?" he asked. "It's weird not to get any answers back. But don't worry, I will do the talking for us both." I grinned at him. He grinned back.

We both smelled some deer in the north, but Alec immediately made a bad face. So we ran to the east, where two bears were fightinng. We waited behind a tree. Alec looked at me, and pointed at the left bear. Then he pointed at himself. I nodded. Then we attacked. I drunk the blood, and ate the flesh of the whole bear. Alec was ready before I was.

"Are you finished or do you want to hunt some more?" he asked. I shook my head. Usually I don't eat a whole animal, but today I was enjoying it a lot. "I'm satisfied too. Well, maybe not fully, but I think that's because it's no human. Do you want to go back home, or run some more?

I turned my head to the bushes far away where my clothes were. Alec nodded. "I'll wait here."

I came back in my human form. Alec smiled when he saw me. We walked back to the car in a human pace, and talked about the hunt.

"It's such a strange feeling. I feel like I can't handle any more fluid, but I still feel the burning in my throat," Alec said.

"I know. My family sometimes complains about that too. But they think that what they do is good."

"And how do you think about it?" he asked.

"I haven't been around humans a lot in my life. I don't know how they do things. But when I see humans, I see clumsy weak creatures. Before I get to know them better, I don't mind sometimes feeding on one," I said. I knew that if I would have said that to Carlisle, he would be disappointed.

"And do you want to get to know them better?" he asked.

"I think so. I mean, every vampire has been a human," I said.

"Then would you like to accompany me this evening to the cinema? It seems to be a very human activity to watch other humans." _Surprise!_ _Did he just ask me out?_ I really didn't see that one coming, but I liked Alec. So, why not?

"Sure, I thought there was a new movie with Robert Pattinson." We talked a little about the many similarities of Robert Pattinson and my Grandfather Edward. But then suddenly Alec stopped walking.

"Do you smell that?" he asked. I inhaled. _Oops…_ The pack. My father.

"We need to leave, now!" I said, and I started running. But it was already too late. A huge wolf stepped in front of me. Embry.

"Oh, hi Embry!" My voice wasn't steady at all. Then my father came to stand next to him, in his human form.

"Dawn," he said. "You are not going out with a Volturi."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"You have nothing to say about that! I can go out with anybody I want!" I screamed.

"I'm your father, I have every right to say something about it!" Dad screamed back. His hands were shaking, and he needed to calm down. "You are not going out with him!"

"Dad, calm down! You will lose control, and I don't want to get hurt," I said calmly.

"I won't hurt you, I will hurt him!" He pointed at Alec, and the next moment he was changed. The big wolf growled at me and Alec.

"Dawn, we need to go! I can't defend us both," Alec said. He pulled my hand, which I didn't remember he was holding, and gripped my shoulders with both hands. "Close your eyes."

I felt the air around me move, and when I felt the ground unther my feet, I opened my eyes. I looked down and saw that I didn't feel the ground unther my feet, but a thick branch. Alec had jumped to the top of a tree. The wolves were standing untherneath us, growling.

"Change, and then fly to the car. I will follow you," Alec said.

I was in my underwear. I changed into a bug, and my panties and bra fell off me. Alec took all my clothes, and ran away. I shifted into an eagle, and flew as fast as I could to the car. When I came there, Alec was already sitting in the car. He pushed one window open and I flew inside.

"Your clothes are in the back, but I think you need to stay animal for a while. Your father is coming right after us, and I want you to be able to run." He was right, as soon as he started the car, the wolves were after us. The car wasn't nearly as fast as the wolves, so we had to stop the car and get out. But my father changed human again.

"Please, Dawn! I want to talk to you! I want to make a compromise. Change into your wolf form." Alpha voice talking, I couln't ignore it. I flew out of the car and became a wolf. Alec looked confused; I had never explained the Alpha thing to him. But he was smart and stayed in the car.

"_Dad, I don't want to hear it."_

"_Please, listen. We need to make a compromise."_

"_Sure."_

"_You can go out with the bloodsucker…"_

"_Don't call him like that" _

He sighed. _"With the Volturi, if you promise me to give us every information about any planned attacks."_

"_But I can't get any information about that!"_

"_Dawn, I know you're lying." _I was lying. Aro had said he would tell me everything I wanted to know. _"Do we have a deal?" _

"_Yes, I think." _

"_We miss you, honey."_

"_I miss you too. Will you please tell Alice and Rose I finally got a fashion sense? And Bella that she doesn't need to be so afraid, I'm doing great with those vamps."_

"_I will. Emmett says he can't wait to fight with you, the new Volturi, and Esme wants to know if you need anything."_

"_I'm fine. Tell Emmett I will be waiting for it." _Then I shifted again, and flew back in the car. I nodded to Alec, to tell him he could start the car.

"Everything allright? What did he tell you? Please, change." I was getting really tired of all the shifting. But I hopped to the back of the car and shifted. After I was fully dressed I climbed back.

"I need to give him all the information about attacks the Volturi is planning. Then we can go out," I said.

"That won't be a problem, because the Volturi doesn't attack. Not now," Alec said.

"Not now? Explain."

"Well, we only attack when something bad happens. And nothing happens if your father is here," Alec said.

When we came home, someone had made a delicious lasagna for me. I ate, while Alec and Sophie watched. We talked with Sophie about our conversation with Dad, and then Alec left, so I could change into something human-proof.

"I will get you some clothes, if you comb your hair, so I can braid it," Sophie said. She was back in a minute, and I had brushed my hair. Sophie braided it, and I looked human enough for the cinema. Then she gave me some clothes; jeans, t-shirt and Nike sneakers, and I was ready.

I walked to Alec's room, and knocked. "I'm ready!" I said.

"Hey, human!" Alec said when he opened the door.

"Are you ready? Do we need to tell Aro where we're going?" I said.

"No, you may absolutely tell nobody," Alec whispered.

"Why not? Sophie knows, so why not Aro?" I asked

"I will explain later," he said. "But we need to leave now."

In the car (a very expensive handmade Italian Ferrari, what else?) we continued our talk about Edward. Volterra had no cinema, so we had to go to a bigger city. The trip was great, Volterra by night was one of the most amazing things I had ever seen.

Alec had bought our tickets and we were waiting to enter the cinema hall.

"Do you like being a human for a while?" I asked him.

"I like it because I'm with you. I think you were absolutely right with your predjudice, humans are stupid. Look at what they're eating! It looks like pellets of paper." He pointed at a bucket of popcorn.

"I know it looks bad, but it tastes great. Esme makes it for me and the wolves when we go watch a movie," I said.

"So, if we want an optimal human experience, we need to buy popcorn," Alec walked in human pace to the cash desk, and bought me a huge bucket of popcorn. Then we needed to go in the hall, because the movie was starting.

The movie was plain boring. Even Alec, however he couln't, seemed to fall asleep. After a while we found out it was very funny to tease the couples in the hall. When two people were kissing, Alec used his ability on one of them for a few seconds. You should have seen the faces of the partners of those people, when it looks like they fell sleep during the kiss! When all the couples in the hall were pissed because their parters 'fell asleep' during kissing, we threw popcorn to the screen with supernatural force. Nobody could have known we did it, because we were on the last row, and very silent.

When we walked back to the car we were laughing out loud.

"That was brilliant! I never had such a good human experience!" he said.

"Yeah, me too. I wonder what Aro would say if we told him what we did." I said

"But we can't," Alec said.

"Why not? You're not dating another girl, are you?" I asked seriously.

"No, I'm not." He opened the door for me, and I stepped in. Then he walked to the driver's side, and steppid in too. "A Volturi may not date."

"What? And why not? And why are you telling me this now?" I said.

"Because love is the only way to break the Volturi bond. If I told you before you wouldn't have said yes," he said, staring at his shoes. Another couple, humans, passing by looked at him with sad eyes. Ugh, humans…

"Of course I would have said yes! I'm not mad at you, but you can't keep such secrets from me. I'm part of the family now, and you're supposed to teach me the rules."

"I promise I will next time. Well, if there will ever be a next time?" Alec said.

"Hmm, let me think. Sophie said there was going to be a dance in the Volturi headquarters tomorrow," I said.

"I'm sorry, I completely forgot to tell you that. Now I failed again in telling you everything! How is that possible, I'm a vampire, I never forget things!" he said.

"It's ok, Alec. I was just wondering if you would like to go with me?" I said.


	8. Chapter 8

Sophie helped me pick my dress after we ate (or drank, whatever). We went to the basement for Marcus' dresses collection, and found what we wanted.

"That purple dress looks so good on you!" I said. It was a short purple dress, strapless, with a silver petticoat under it. It had silver beadings on the top too.

"I know! But I think you should pick the blue dress, not the black. It will look better next to Alec," Sophie said.

"Really? But we won't be standing much together anyway, Aro may not know it," I said. "I take the black. It looks nice too." The long satin black dress seemed to be made for my body.

We went back to my room. Sophie did my make-up and hair. She didn't need anything herself, she was pretty enough already. Then we went to Alec's room.

"Knock-knock, we're ready!" Sophie said through the door. He was in a dark blue suit. Then behind him, Jane came out in a dress in the same blue colour. I wondered if Alec had told her about our date.

"We're ready too," Alec said. "Let's go." We went to the theatre hall. Many other vampires were already dancing. A small all-vampire band was playing songs from the '20s.

Alec came to stand next to me. "I will dance with Jane first. Go dance with another vampire, and we will switch in the middle of the song. Aro won't suspect anything," He whispered. I nodded.

Felix asked me to dance with him and I said yes. I was lucky my family taught me how to dance. Felix did very well. We chatted a little, but there was not much to say. Then Alec tapped my shoulder.

"Can I have this dance?" Alec said.

"Sure!" I felt relieved. Dancing with Felix was nice, but I was looking forward to Alec all the time. Being with him felt safe.

"Enjoyed dancing with Felix?" he asked.

"Yes, very much. How was Jane?" I said.

"She doesn't like us being together. She thinks she will lose me some day," Alec said.

"Well, let me make this straight. I'm only dating you, Alec. That's no guarantee that I will marry you, and go away from the Volturi, or my family," I said.

Alec looked disappointed. "You are right. We should have fun now. Do you want something to eat? I see they made food for you." He pointed at some plates with Italian snacks.

"No, thanks. We better concentrate on our dancing, there's a new song coming," I said. The rest of the evening we had lots of fun. Around 2 o'clock I was a really tired. Alec noticed it.

"You should go to bed. Come on, I'll take you to your room," he said. He brought me to my room, and while I sat on my bed, he took off the extremely high heels I was wearing.

"I'm sorry, I don't think it's usual to let your date take clothes off," I said.

"It's okay, Dawn. I've see you in underwear before. Now go brush your teeth, you need to sleep," He said. But I could see he was grinning a little, trying to hide it.

After I brushed my teeth and Alec took my dress off and put on my pyjamas, I went to lie in bed. Alec sat on the edge.

"I would give so much for just one night of sleeping, you know?" he said.

"Why? The Cullens don't mind it at all, they like the extra time" I said.

"Escaping from everything, with a good reason," he said. "Would you mind if I stay here a little longer while you sleep?" he asked.

"Uh, that's quite an unusual question. But, if it makes you feel better, you can stay as long as you like. Just don't listen if I talk in my sleep, runs in the family," I said.

"I'll be sure I listen," he said. Then he bent over and kissed me. I'd never been kissed before, and it was quite a surprise. My heart was racing. It was beating in my ears and my eyes fluttered shut. Then Alec let go.

"I'm sorry, did I upset you? That sounded almost like a heart attack!" he said.

"No, not at all. But I'm not sure if I'm able to sleep now," I said. He smiled at me. I had never noticed before he had such a beautiful smile. I know, sounds as in a normal faitytale, but it's true…

"Okay, sleep well then," he said. "I promise to be here when you wake up."

I had the most wonderful dreams that night. And Alec played a role in all of them. When I woke up I was almost sorry I couldn't sleep a little longer. But then I saw him sitting next to me, on the edge of the bed.

"Good morning, love! Had a nice sleep?" Alec asked.

"Very nice. And you? How was watching me sleep? I hope not to boring?" I asked.

"No, not at all. You kept telling me that you loved me. That doesn't bore me at all," he said. "I will get you something to eat. I'll be right back." And he was gone, in vampire speed.

Only a few seconds later someone knocked on my door. I expected it to be Sophie, so I was surprised to see Jane open the door.

"Hi, can I come in?" she said.

"Sure, is everything allright?" I asked. Jane closed the door.

"No, everything is not alright. What do you think you're doing? Dating my brother is against Volturi law, I thought?" she said, with a very, very angry expression on her face. _Oops…_

"Uh, I'm sorry Jane, I didn't mean to upset you. I'm just… dating him. Nothing serious," I said.

"Well, I'm pretty sure what I heard last night. My brother is thinking about leaving our family to be with you!" Jane said. When she said 'you', her face looked like she was talking about something awfully dirty, and the word was like it was a disgusting taste in her mouth.

"Oh, no. That was before I said that I didn't want him to do that! Why are you blaming me for this?" I said. I was getting pretty pissed off by the girl.

"Because if you weren't here, Alec would still be my brother! Now he spends the whole night sitting on your bed," Jane shouted, throwing her arms up in the air.

"That's his choice. He can be wherever he wants to be. And if that is on my bed, that so be it!" I said.

"If you don't slow things down from now on, I will go to Aro. And if you ever, ever tell Alec I was here, I will rip your warm and bloody heart out! No, better, I will tell your parents that you date a Volturi vampire!" Jane said. And then she was gone.

Uh-oh. Not good. If my father would know… I didn't get time to think about what could happen, because Alec came into my room. He had some Italian food on a plate, and it smelled great. I stuck out my hand to taste it, but Alec shoved the plate away.

"No, first a kiss. Then you can eat," he said. Then he bent over, but I pushed him away, frightened about what Jane had said.

"Uhm, Alec. I was thinking, maybe we should slow things down a little. I only know you for such a short time, and you know, my family and things…"

Alec looked sad. "I don't want to slow down! If you lived in my time, we'd be married already!" _Sounds like one of the bedtime stories Grandma Bella had told me once…_

"But we don't live in your time. Really, Alec, I like you. But that doesn't mean that I will marry you. You are my 'now', weddings are for later." I said. Maybe I should have said it less straight, but this was how I felt about it.

"So that's how you feel about me? Someone to dump as soon as you find someone better? Dawn, I love you. And if you don't feel the same about it, why date me in the first place?" And then he stormed out of my room.

"No, Alec! Wait, let me explain," I said. He had to be at the other side of the building already, but I knew he could hear me. Two seconds later, he was standing next to my bed again.

"Give me one good reason why I should be with you," he said, his tone in an acid hiss. _Why do people always say only girls can be Dramaqueens?_

"Because I love you, Alec. I really do. But I like my new family, and my real family. If I choose for you, I will lose them both. Before I make that decision, I need to know you a little better."


End file.
